Alfonse Joseph Cuozzo, 75, of Northford, passed away peacefully Thursday, July 5th, 2012 at the Connecticut Hospice, Branford surrounded by his loving family. He was the beloved husband of Loretta Pascarella Cuozzo. Born in New Haven on March 21, 1937 and was the son of the late William and Antoinette (Petrucci) Cuozzo. Mr. Cuozzo grew up in the Fair Haven section of New Haven, graduated in 1954 from Wilbur Cross High School, and attended the University of New Haven. From 1955 to 1959, he proudly served in active duty in the United States Air Force as a radio intercept operator for the USAF Security Service division, spending time in Misawa, Japan for the Misawa Project/1st Radio Squadron Mobile. Mr. Cuozzo was first to identify the radio frequency of Sputnik in 1957. His service accolades included a Letter of Commendation and a Medal of Good Conduct. He remained enlisted in the Air Force Reserve until 1961. After his service for the U.S. Armed Forces, Mr. Cuozzo worked as a metallurgist in the firearms industry, employed by Olin Corporation/Winchester Repeating Arms Company for 27 years and then the U.S. Repeating Arms Company. He retired from the Marlin Firearms Company in 2005. When recently reflecting on his career he said that he “wouldn’t have traded it.†Mr. Cuozzo was a proud member of the National Rifle Association and was an avid skeet shooting member of the Hamden Fish & Game Protective Association. He was the adored father of David William Cuozzo of East Haven, Gary Steven Cuozzo and his wife Natasha of Northford, and Cheryl Ann Cuozzo Carner and her husband Michael of North Haven. Loving “Poppy†to his little buddy, grandson Nicholas Aleksander Cuozzo. Brother of William Cuozzo and his wife Margaret of Arizona and Judith Ahern of Florida. The Cuozzo family wishes to express their unending heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Harold Tara, Dr. Philip Jaffe, and to each member of the incredibly talented medical, nursing and pastoral care teams at the Hospital of Saint Raphael Medical Oncology Unit and Fr. Michael J. McGivney Center for Cancer Care for their exceptional expertise, skill and unwavering support. Also, special appreciation to everyone at the Connecticut Hospice for their precious gifts of compassion and dignity. Finally, countless thanks to Dr. Bjorn Ringstad for many years of kind and thoughtful care.
His funeral procession will leave the North Haven Funeral Home, 36 Washington Avenue, Tuesday morning at 9:30. A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated in St. Therese Church, 555 Middletown Avenue, North Haven at 10:00 am. Interment with full military honors will follow in the All Saints Cemetery. The visiting hours will be Monday from 5 to 8 pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Connecticut Hospice, Inc., 100 Double Beach Road, Branford, CT 06405.
Dear Loretta, David, Gary and Cheryl
My thoughts and prayers are with you. It’s been along time since I baby sat the 3 kids. Cheryl was just and infant and now she is a beautiful young woman and married. Just alot of good memories.
Take care and Love to all.
Dear Loretta and family, our deepest condolences go out to each of you. We will
miss our dear friend so much. The happy memories of the times we spent together will remain in our hearts forever.
Love you….. Mary and Billy
Al and I were good friends and served together in the Air Force. I hadn’t seen him since getting discharged in 1959 until two years ago at a reunion with friends from our days in Japan. It was so nice seeing him again after so many years. My heart goes out to his family.
Dear Loretta and Family, we are very sorry to hear of the loss of your husband and father. Although we had not the pleasure to meet him in person, it is obvious, through the contact that we have had, that he was a good, loving man, who helped raise a good, loving family. Our condolences – Jeff&Anna, Todd&Vickie, Jack&Carol
Our thoughts are with you Cheryl, Mike and family. Your Dad was a very lucky man to have such a wonderful family. His life was way to short but I know you will all have some very fond memories of him. I am so glad he got to see you two get married. I am sure that brought him much peace in his last few months.
Dear Loretta and Family, I am saddened by your loss, and all of us who knew Al share in that feeling. I was privileged to be one of his friends in Misawa, Japan from 1956 to 1959. We will miss you and Al in St. louis next week, but you can be sure that you’ll be in our thoughts and remembrances, and by the grace of God we’ll all be together again.
Dearest Loretta & Family,
Our heartfelt condolences to you in your loss. Al was such a wonderful guy and so handsome, we know he will be missed by all. It is not possible for us to be at the wake and funeral which we deeply regret. We’ll be in touch when we return to Connecticut. Take care and be well. With all our love, Edie & Larry
Dearest Loretta & Family,
Our heartfelt condolences to you in your loss. Al was such a wonderful guy and so handsome, we know he will be missed by all. It is not possible for us to be at the wake and funeral which we deeply regret. We’ll be in touch when we return to Connecticut. Take care and be well. With all our love, Edie & Larry
Cheryl… my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family… God Bless…
My old friend Al was a co-worker with me in the USAF Security Service in the 6989th Radio Squadron Mobile in Misawa, Japan from 1957 to 1959. I had the pleasure of seeing him again in Philadelphia in 2010 and Atlanta in 2011 along with his loving wife, Loretta. Al was a fine man, a patriot, and a dear friend. May God Bless all of you who loved him so much. We will all miss him.
Bob Wynn (aka Skosh)
Loretta,
We are so sorry to hear of Al’s passing but as Cheryl so wonderfully put it “he’s now walking with God”. As Psalm 116:15 states “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints”. We will keep you and your family in our prayers and pray for comfort through this difficult time.
Please accept our heartfelt condolences for the loss of your father and our friend.
We will never forget the friendship we had at our U.S. Air Force Security Service reunions. We pray that God will give you peace and comfort during this time. We love you Loretta
Dear Cheryl and Michael,
Please accept our heartfelt sympathies for the the loss of your beloved Dad. May happy memories keep him alive in your hearts forever.
Sincerely,
Maria and Frank Sanzo
my thoughts and prayers are with you now and always. I will always remember Uncle Al. Love, Lisa
Dear Loretta and family, I was saddened to learn of Al’s passing, and all of us that knew him share in your loss. Al and I worked together off and on from 1956 to 1959 and he was a pleasure to know. We were hoping to see you both again at the St. Louis reunion, instead you can be sure we will revisit Al with our thoughts and memories. With Love, Faith and the grace of God, we will all meet again.
Cheryl – our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. We are so sorry for your loss. Please let us know if you need anything at all. We love you!
I had the pleasure of serving our country with Al in Japan in the late ’50s in Misawa Japan. He was always a polite, quiet and dignified young airman, all characteristics that I found him to still possess when we re-kindled our friendship at Philadelphia in 2010 and Atlanta in 2011 at our Air Force reunion. May God give Al peace and his family comfort. He was always a gentleman.
Dear Loretta and family, my deepest condolences on Al’s passing. I was stationed with Al in Misawa in the late 50’s and only got to know him again via the Internet
for the past couple of years. I took great pleasure in our near daily contact and he will be dearly missed.
I had the pleasure of knowing Al at USAFSS in Misawa, Japan
over 50 years ago and We renewed our friendship over 50 years
later in 2010 at a usafss reunion in Philidelphia.
Rest in peace, Al. We shall again meet in a few years..
Cheryl and Mike and to all the Cuozzo family, from our family. We are sending our most healing thoughts and prayers to you all, through this great time of loss. Your father was a special man, and I am so honored to have seen him walk you down the aisle and dance with you on your memorable wedding, Cheryl. It is one of the greatest acts of love a father does in his lifetime, and I am so glad he was able to be there for one of the most special moments of your life. I’m sure he will continue to be surrounding you and your family with his love.
I had the pleasure of knowing Al in Misawa, Japan What a great guy.
Over 50 years later, in 2010, I had the pleasure to again visit with
him at a USAFSS reunion in Philadelphia. I am sure that we will
meet again in the near future.Rest in peace, Al.
Dear Loretta, Cheryl and Gary
We are so sorry for your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this time.
Sincerely,
Dr. Seidner and Staff
DearLoretta,David,Gary,Cheryl,Natasha,Michael & Nicholas I’m so glad i got the chance to spend some time with Al & Loreeta when we took the trips to NJ. Al was a wonderful caring man My deepest sympathy goes out to all of you .You shared your life together…You sharedyour love.No one can know the heaviness your hearts hold,but have hope that time will lessen your sorrow..and in the days to come,take comfort in all of the beautiful memories you shared.
my thoughts and prayers are with you now and always. i will remember Uncle Al always. love, Lisa.
Cheryl, We are so very sorry for your loss. We are so very glad that you have such beautiful wedding memories with your dad. It was as if his gift to you was waiting on all of this so your wedding could be such a joy. I think that speaks to his devotion to his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Cheryl and Family,
We are very sorry for your loss. We know how special of father and husband he was. Know that our prayers are with you all during this very difficult time.
Loretta , Please accept our loving sympathy for the loss of Al.
We are so greatful to have known you and Al from the 1st RSM
Reunions. Seems like we are old friends from long ago. A great guy and will be missed. God Bless
Jim & Ann
Dear Loretta and Family;
Our condolences to all. This is such a great loss for all of you. Memories of Al, Bill and Judy go back to the old neighborhood in Fair Haven. His compassion and good spirit were always very evident. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you during this very difficult time.
The Malafronte Family
Cheryl and family,
My prayers and heart go out to you all. He was a wonderful, kind and caring man. It was a privilege to have met him. May God watch over you all I
During this time of sorrow.
I met Al on a very fine occasion – Cheryl’s wedding. Great guy, warm smile and loved all around him that day as well as loved by all. My deepest sympathies to all of you.